Frustrated, I exclaimed to God, "if this is getting to know you, I won't know you." Ten years later the Lord would answer my prayer. After becoming a born again Christian I learned that what I sought to gain through sin could only be found in the resurrected life of Jesus Christ. Now, I desire to share the finished work of Christ and His life in the believer with all who seek to find rest from the impossible burdens of life and religion.
Revelation 1:17-18
[17] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. [18] I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Philippians 2:5-7
[5] In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: [6] Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; [7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Matthew 2:11
[11] On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
1. Is Jesus God or the Son of God?
2. Why did Jesus pray to God?
3. Was Jesus worshiped?
4. What does it all have to do with us?
Resources:
Jesus is God
https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/gospel_of_john_041_8_41_59_jesus_is_god_ext.mp3
The Gospel
https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/the_gospel.mp3
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." John 3:17-18
" Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them." John 3:36
How does natural man stand before God?
What is natural man's attitude toward God?
Is flesh able to submit to God's law?
Resources:
Judging
https://96tolife.blogspot.com/search/label/Judging
Relationship with God
https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/gospel_of_john_012_3_16_36_relationship_with_god_ext.mp3
[25] I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— [26] the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. [27] To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
What is the condition of man without Jesus Christ?
John 15:4-5
"[4] Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. [5]“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."
What does it mean to abide in the vine?
Can you know and rest in the love of God?
Resources:
96tolife: Rest
https://96tolife.blogspot.com/search/label/Rest?m=1
Vine and Branches
https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/gospel_of_john_083_15_1_6_vine_and_branches_ext.mp3
[4] Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. [5] It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. [6] Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. [7] It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. [8] Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Did we ask God to show us that He loves us?
What had not happened yet when Jesus commanded the disciples to love another?
"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit..." Ephesians 5:18
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us." Ephesians 3:26-20
"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." 2 Corinthians 5:14
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." John 15:9
Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises every son He receives.” Hebrews 12:3-6
What can professional athletes teach us about the discipline of God?
Does a forgiving and loving God punish us for our sins?
"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law." 1 Corinthians 15:56
What is the "sting of death"?
What is the "power of sin"?
Why do Christians say, "Christianity doesn't work"?
Resources:
The Scale between Law and Grace
https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/scale_law_grace.mp3
A Closer Look at Law and Grace
https: //amzn.to/3SBgMWo
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Romans 5:1-2
Since we have been justified through faith, what do we now have with God?
What is it that we now stand in?
How did we gain access into this grace in which we now stand?
Resources:
War with God
https://www.livinggodministries.net/living_god_ministries/radio_archive/audio_files/romans_32_war_with_god_4_23_5_1.mp3
A Closer Look at Law & Grace Study Guide
https: //amzn.to/48er3hg
"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries."
Is this passage referring to a Christian deliberately going out and engaging in sin?
What is the knowledge of the truth that we have received?
How come there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins?
Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
How are we totally identified with Jesus Christ?
Do you know the difference between what you have in Christ and what you are taught to obtain from Him?
Resources:
A Scriptural Journey to Discover the Grace of God (Study Guide used in this video)